the_eristic Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You do have to coach a whole team, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandaq Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Pretty sure vlaar will get loads of playtime this season unless he screws up constantly or gets injured which wouldn`t surprise me one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Vlaar and Okore will be first choice im fairly sure, can see Baker playing backup. Yea Vlaar might not be the quickest and may lose his man every now and again but how many times did he put his body on the line, make good headed clearances from balls into the box and when did we have someone at the back as composed on the ball to break up an attack, beat a player and start an attack of our own. He was decent in my opinion, he's the right fit for club captain and clearly cares a lot about the club. He is Aston Vlaar and he and Okore are gonna be huge for us at the back this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You do have to coach a whole team, though. We weren't talking about the whole team. We were talking about one player and his ability to deal with crosses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaIRE Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2388150/Aston-Villa-captain-Ron-Vlaars-future-club-thrown-doubt.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Can see this being a possibility later in the upcoming season but not against Arsenal. The article has a point, but saying Okore has impressed in pre-season is madness, he has played less than 90 minutes, don't think he could be selected over Vlaar at this point. Vlaar, yes I admit hasn't been the best, arguably failing to mark his man from set pieces e.g. Fellaini at Everton away, but he did have to babysit Clark for large sections of last season; has looked more commanding and strong alongside Baker in pre-season. Would wait and see how it does against Malaga and Arsenal before making any decisions. I always think that particular case is a little harsh on Vlaar (Fellaini at Everton) - when I first saw it, I too thought he simply lost his man, but if you watch the replay carefully, as the ball is crossed in from the corner, Vlaar is clearly pushed forward by Anichebe and then struggles to get back into a position to successfully challenge Fellaini. Sure, maybe he could have been more resilient, but I don't completely blame him in this instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Assuming Okore has been bought to be a first team CB, then I would also make the assumption that he will play in his strongest position which is as a right sided CB. That narrows PL's choices for Okore's partner to either Baker or Clark if we are looking for a natural left/right CB partnership. Baker/Okore would be my choice. Mistakes will be made, but this pairing could become the real deal if they are given time to develop a partnership. I like Vlaar but I think that his previous serious leg injuries have robbed him of the ability to get off the ground particularly at set pieces, which is an all important part of a CB's armoury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I said before, say it again: Lambert will go 3 CBs. Is he really going to drop Vlaar, team leader, who is also effective going forward as shown by his goal against Sunderland? No. Vlaar didn't play badly last season and our defence missed his experience greatly when he was out injured. If Okore really is as good at long ball passing as the little I've seen him play suggests, he will be very effective stepping into midfield, in a back 3 Vlaar, Okore, Baker. Yes, I rate Clark but if there choice is between Okore and Clark then I would pick Okore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Our best pairing would be either baker\vlaar or Okore\Vlaar - Any other combo would be to lightweight. - Although it was this time last year that Lambert made Bent Captain and told us he expected our creativity to come from Ireland\Ngozbia - So I wouldn't be totally surprised if lambo starts with Okore\Baker .....with predictable results ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz316 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I have thought for a while he may be looking at 3 at the back but he'd have tried it during pre season surely If that was in the plans?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I hope we never see 3 at the back again. I wouldn't mind a pairing of baker and Okore. I'm just not a big Vlaar fan. Think he's pretty average and baker has potential to be a much better player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I hope we never see 3 at the back again. I wouldn't mind a pairing of baker and Okore. I'm just not a big Vlaar fan. Think he's pretty average and baker has potential to be a much better player. Agree about Vlaar being average - but look at the results when he was out of the side - we need senior pro's at the back - for all his shortcomings I would start the season with Vlaar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I hope we never see 3 at the back again. I wouldn't mind a pairing of baker and Okore. I'm just not a big Vlaar fan. Think he's pretty average and baker has potential to be a much better player. Agree about Vlaar being average - but look at the results when he was out of the side - we need senior pro's at the back - for all his shortcomings I would start the season with Vlaar. It was awful without him but I also think that's down to who we had when he was out. We've signed Okore and Luna and I think our current formation with a midfield trio of Sylla, Delph and Westwood will help. I don't think Vlaar is that important for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto_Villan Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) I think Vlaar and Baker / Okore should be the starting combination. Preferably starting with Baker until he gets a head injury and needs to come off (I give it about 20 minutes), and then we'll see how Okore does. I'm kinda hoping Okore works out to be the long-term partner because much as I like Baker, I don't think he's reliable enough yet. Vlaar also has his moments of madness but I think he's still more reliable than Baker and seems more of a presence in the defence - Baker crunches people too, but I remember seeing Vlaar squaring up to the opposition strikers a few times last season and I liked that. Scores some useful goals too, which isn't anywhere near as important as being able to defend but is handy in a tie break. Did Vlaar give away any penalties last season? I don't remember him doing so. Edited August 10, 2013 by Panto_Villan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 One thing that stands out with Vlaar is that he never picks up yellow cards. It's because usually he positions himself in the right position so he doesn't have to bring the player down. He's underrated on here, but definitely expendable if baker/okore step up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I have thought for a while he may be looking at 3 at the back but he'd have tried it during pre season surely If that was in the plans?? If we don't get 3 CB at all against Malaga then maybe we won't. I just think with the first few games against the big teams, we're not going to be playing anything other than counter-attack, so more CBs would be better than less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I said before, say it again: Lambert will go 3 CBs. Is he really going to drop Vlaar, team leader, who is also effective going forward as shown by his goal against Sunderland? No. Vlaar didn't play badly last season and our defence missed his experience greatly when he was out injured. If Okore really is as good at long ball passing as the little I've seen him play suggests, he will be very effective stepping into midfield, in a back 3 Vlaar, Okore, Baker. Yes, I rate Clark but if there choice is between Okore and Clark then I would pick Okore. I guess it's possible, but there's no real evidence that he loves 3 at the back. It's not something he played regularly at Norwich or tried to play at Villa from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I have thought for a while he may be looking at 3 at the back but he'd have tried it during pre season surely If that was in the plans?? If we don't get 3 CB at all against Malaga then maybe we won't. we didn't, nor did we at all during preseason. have you ever actually watched a game of football con? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Very good game v Malaga today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Agreed, he was superb. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Looks like he can play on the left side then. I thought he did so a few times for Feyernoord but couldn't get a definitive answer, Okore and Vlaar looks to be the combination we'll go with. No sign of Clark today either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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